Jones confirms Tyler is expected to join Peterborough

Mike Simmonds

Hatters manager Nathan Jones has revealed that goalkeeper Mark Tyler is expected to join former side Peterborough next week.

The 38-year-old, who is out of contract at the end of the season, was the subject of an approach from the League One side on transfer deadline day, but a deal couldn’t be agreed.

“We just wanted to give Mark the opporunity to prolong his career.”

Nathan Jones

Tyler was then missing from the starting line-up for Luton’s 1-0 win at Leyton Orient this afternoon as Luton announced the loan signing of 21-year-old Derby County stopper Jonathan Mitchell until the end of the season prior to kick off.

Explaining Tyler’s departure, Jones said: “I think with Tyles, it will probably come out, so I’ll be the one to say.

“He’s had a little bit of an approach from Peterborough in terms of going there and being a player goalkeeping coach if you like and I didn’t want to stand in his way.

“I spoke to him and Barry Fry over the last few weeks and we said when the right time comes to do it, we’ll let him do it because Tyles has been a great servant for Peterborough, been a great servant for Luton.

“He’s been a great servant in the time he was patient here when Elliot (Justham) got in and so on.

“There’s a lot of integrity in football and Peterborough have wanted Mark for a long time and we just wanted to give Mark the opporunity to prolong his career.

“He’ll probably become a number two there and then goalkeeper coach which adds longevity to his career.

“So we’re pleased to be able to do that for him and we felt it was only right that we don’t stand in his way. But what we had to do was be able to bring someone in with real quality and we think we’ve been able to do that.”

Taking Tyler’s place was Mitchell, who had only played once for the Rams in the FA Cup this season, but Jones was delighted with his impact against Orient and keeping a clean sheet on debut.

He continued: “We had to get the right one in, we inquired about Johnny and Darren Wassall (Derby boss) has been fantastic.

“He believes in what we do here, I know him, he knows how I work, it’s a similar philosophy to Derby when I was at Brighton and he knows we’re trying to bring that here.

“I’ve known about Johnny for a while and we feel he’s one of the best young keepers around, he’s on our radar.

“So they had no hesitation in letting us have him and I think as you’ve seen today, that’s one hell of a league debut, and I think he’s enhanced our group.”

Jones put Mitchell into the side ahead of number two Elliot Justham, and on the decision, he added: “It’s a little bit harsh on Elliot as he’s trained really well.

“We asked for a reaction from him and he’s given it to us. But we believe when we bring a goalkeeper of his calibre in, you start him, because we believe he’s improved our 11 and without getting carried away, the kid was outstanding.”

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